Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE), a market leader in LED solid-state lighting components, today announced commercial availability of XLamp(r) LEDs with minimum luminous flux of 100 lumens at 350 mA. XLamp LEDs are the first LEDs to be available in volume with this level of performance. This advance sets a new standard in lighting-class LED brightness and efficiency.

XLamp LEDs have now achieved a 100% improvement in performance over the past 17 months. They can deliver either 25% greater brightness with improved efficacy, or they can deliver up to 55% greater brightness at the same efficacy when compared to the previous generation of XLamp LEDs. Moreover, the new XLamp LEDs retain the same footprint as previous XLamp LEDs, thereby protecting customers' design investments.

"Cree is to be congratulated on surpassing the 100-lumen level in its commercial white LED products," said Robert Steele, director of the optoelectronics practice at market research firm Strategies Unlimited. "The availability of such high-performance devices should certainly accelerate the conversion of the lighting market to solid-state sources."

"This is an announcement of volume availability, not an R&D result or availability of a few parts," stated Norbert Hiller, Cree vice president and general manager for lighting LEDs. "These LEDs can enable lighting manufactures to create fixtures using fewer LEDs than before, thereby lowering initial product cost and reducing energy consumption."